WHOI Waypoints: Dick Pittenger leaves WHOI in Ship Shape

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November 1, 2004By the time Dick Pittenger stepped down in July 2004 as WHOI Vice
President for Marine Operations, he had visited 35 countries, sailed in most of
the oceans, and directed the operation of more than a dozen oceanographic
research ships.

As Oceanographer of the Navy from 1988 to 1990, he oversaw the
U.S. Naval Observatory and the U.S. Naval Oceanography Command, which was responsible for 61 oceanographic
facilities around the world, 12 oceanographic survey ships, and three survey
aircraft. He spent much of his time getting new ships into the Navy budget,
including one that became the WHOI-operated research vessel Atlantis. Little
did he realize that his brief encounters with the Institution would lead him
from Washington
to a second career in Woods Hole.

It was former WHOI Director Craig Dorman who invited Pittenger to
apply to become WHOI’s arctic research coordinator in 1990. “Craig and I worked
closely together when I was Director of Antisubmarine Warfare (ASW) in the
Navy,” Pittenger said. “Our offices were just down the hall from each other in
the Pentagon, and we would often meet early in the morning to discuss ways to
solve the difficult ASW problem. One day he said he was leaving the Navy, retiring
early, and had accepted the job as Director of WHOI. I was surprised, but
knowing something about the Institution, I was very impressed
and supportive.”

“When it came time for me to retire, I spoke with my family about
the possibilities,” Pittenger added. “They wanted me to go to a world-class
organization, so I applied to WHOI, got interviewed by the search committee,
and was hired by Bob Gagosian (then Associate Director of Research). It was a
great decision for me.”

Born in Nebraska during the
worst of the Depression-era Dust Bowl days, Pittenger grew up in Tacoma, Wash.,
where he was active in the Sea Scouts and Sea Cadets. He attended the U.S.
Naval Academy on a Naval Reserve appointment and was commissioned as an ensign
in 1958. He commanded a minesweeper in Vietnam and held various fleet
assignments on destroyers, guided missile destroyers, frigates, and the Navy’s
most advanced antisubmarine warfare surface ship. In 1984 he was promoted to
Rear Admiral and became Chief of Staff of U.S. Naval Forces in Europe, as well
as Deputy U.S. Commander for the Eastern Atlantic.
He became Director of the Navy’s ASW Division in 1986, and the following year
he received his second star as Rear Admiral.

Pittenger’s experience in anti-submarine warfare and his postgraduate
degree in underwater acoustics from the Naval Postgraduate
School made him an
excellent candidate for Oceanographer of the Navy, a position he assumed in
1988. He continued the modernization of the Navy’s oceanographic fleet and was
recognized for his efforts in standardizing the oceanographic models that
sailors use in ASW operations; for declassification of the National Oceanic and
Atmospheric Administration’s Exclusive Economic Zone coastal charts; and for
acquisition of the Navy’s first supercomputer for oceanographic and
meteorological model and data processing.

His challenges at WHOI were of a different sort. After only a few
months on the job as arctic research coordinator, Director Dorman asked
Pittenger to assume leadership of Marine Operations in 1991. One of the first
things he did was make a list of priorities and goalsa list he kept and
updated until the day he retired. He accomplished most of his goals.

“We’ve hired some very good people, changed the organization to
be more user-friendly, and made a major shift by integrating the remotely
operated vehicle Jason
and other towed systems into the National Deep Submergence Facility,” Pittenger
said. “We’ve improved the quality of operations and worked hard at getting
scientists and sailors talking with each other. The marine personnel are good
at what they do, and they care about their reputation. I am extremely proud of
them and what we have accomplished together.”

As head of WHOI Marine Operations, Pittenger oversaw a major
upgrade and lengthening of the Institution’s largest research vessel, the now
279-foot Knorr,
and modernization of the 177-foot Oceanus. The 210-foot Atlantis II was
retired and sold, replaced in 1997 by the new 274-foot Atlantis, the
support vessel for the Alvin
submersible. WHOI submitted a successful proposal to replace Alvin
with a deeper diving submersible, announced in August 2004, and built the
60-foot coastal vessel Tioga, which joined the fleet in April.

In his retirement, Dick Pittenger pursues his love of fishing and
photography and spends more time with his children and grandchildren. He will
continue to provide guidance to the Institution in its fleet replacement
efforts and continue to share the experience and expertise of a distinguished
32-year naval career.

At a retirement party in his honor, former Vice President for Marine Operations Dick Pittenger examines the front panel of the original pilot control for the remotely operated vehicle Jason, presented as a reminder of his years of steady leadership at the helm of the Institution's seagoing operations. Research Specialist Andy Bowen looks on. (Photo by Tom Kleindinst, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

Dick Pittenger enjoys a day in the sun on the deck of the new coastal research vessel Tioga, one of his last major achievements at WHOI. (Photo by Dave Gray, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution)

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